"Reclaiming the Church for the Catholic Imagination" - Bishops' Symposium 2016

"Reclaiming the Church for the Catholic Imagination" - Bishops' Symposium 2016

Co-sponsored by the USCCB Committee on Doctrine and the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame

Tuesday October 18 - Thursday October 20, 2016

OVERVIEW

Do we live in a “post-ecclesial age,” where people, especially young people, drift away from the Church not because they hate her but because they are indifferent? Because the Church seems irrelevant? Because they see no benefit to “belonging?” They admire Jesus but see no useful connection between Jesus and the Church? This conference is addressed to the pastoral problem of “believing without belonging,” or being “spiritual but not religious.”

We will consider the erosion of the idea of the Church in the Catholic imagination and provide intellectual, spiritual and pastoral resources to help pastors address the problem in the context of the New Evangelization. Pope Francis has reminded us that a rich treasure trove of imagery is available in the Bible, the Fathers, the Second Vatican Council, and the documents of recent Popes to help pastoral workers bring the Church to life in the imaginations of twenty-first century Catholics. The idea is to revive the sense that the Church is not just an “institution” but a profound mystery of staggering beauty.